Rodent Regatta

I’m getting comments, trackbacks and suggestions for alternatives to Movable Type. I’m not committed (now) to changing. I’m thinking, but I’m not yet acting. Issues that give me pause:

• market share of MT is huge
• my present designer uses it
• plugins are plentiful for extending MT
• a real company with real revenue is behind MT
• I have a couple of years of user experience with MT

Here’s the list of temptations:

1. WordPress
2. ExpressionEngine
3. Textpattern
4. TypePad
5. Drupal

There is a classic study in free enterprise and marketing that is playing out before our eyes. Six Apart, after months of expectations, releases a new version of their flagship product, Movable Type. In a classic twist of irony, the announcement probably carries more ”trackback pings” than any other post in the history of Movable Type. Unfortunately, the majority of them reflect the frustration of a user community that is more disappointed with being ”blindsided” than having to pay for software.

Here’s a rough summary of how it has played out. In a matter of a very few weeks, we learn that it is not a ”feature” release. Then, we hear of a scheme called TypeKey for protecting Movable Type users from unwanted comments. Some privacy fanantics went nuts over the registration methods behind that. Remember, this is from a company that also offers a (utility-computing) version of its software called TypePad. [Editorial note: maybe there is ultimate strategy playing out here. Price your more sophisticated tool so that only sophisticated users buy it. ”Drive the rest” toward your recurring revenue service.]

Then, at the moment of actual release, Six Apart announces their first pricing method. I don’t believe software can be adequately enhanced and supported without a price. Someone somewhere must have a revenue stream to be able to continue what they are doing to further the software. So, price isn’t my issue.

This morning we hear from one of Six Apart’s competitors, who depends solely on donations and volunteers as the methods for enhancing and supporting his software. It seems that in the middle of this fray, a new guide for migrating from Movable Type to WordPress is ready. On top of that, a new release candidate for WordPress’s next version became available overnight.

All of this is classic, American free enterprise. The importance of words, their timing and their meaning is paramount. The style can be as important as the words themselves. One player pulls a hamstring and competitors capitalize. The long-time fans and teammates come to the rescue of the injured player.

Willl New Coke be pulled? Will it be repriced to make it more palatable? Will competitors seize share during the moment of weakness? Will customers get what they want? Yes, they will!

At 7:22 a.m. this morning, I posted something about the new Developer Edition of Movable Type 3.0. What I had not seen at that time was the pricing.

Tonight, I realize there has been a (rather) large outcry about the prices. Some are also ranting that there is any charge at all. This is something I’ve never understood about the software business. What made people think that Movable Type would be free forever? If I mow the lawns of three neighbors for the first month of the summer, is it reasonable for them to assume/expect that I’ll be mowing for free for the rest of the summer?

My questions had nothing to do with the prices, though perhaps they should have. Rather, I’m concerned about the mixed signals over the past few months. It sounds like the messages from a company that is simply growing too fast.

Clearly, if 100,000 people paid the price today, Six Apart won the software lottery. I don’t really think that happened. For me the bigger issue is one of what tool to count on. I’ve been trying (frantically) to learn Movable Type along with CSS, XHTML and web standards. Lately, I’ve heard from several people that many of my validation problems are a result of something inside Movable Type and not something I’ve been doing in my markup. All the problems aren’t due to the tool, but some of them are.

As much as I like WordPress’s early press, I’ve always been concerned about the sustainability of a software product that is free. I’d feel much better if someone or some company found a way to add value to the open source, charge a nominal fee and create a viable business around the product.

I don’t like the fact that a visit to www.sixapart.com doesn’t give you a clear path to the pricing. Go to www.movabletype.org and you can find the pricing, but the link takes you back to a page at at sixapart.com. These seem like small things, but they don’t come across too well from a company announcing its first round of pricing.

I hate to think of changing content management products. I would not change over money. I will change if I believe I can learn more by moving my weblog(s) to a different tool supported by different people who are committed to teaching and furthering web standards!

This morning I’m reading about a Developer Edition (DE) of Movable Type 3.0. This comes as a surprise. Since October of 2002, I’ve been trying to learn the way that Movable Type tags, templates, CSS and XHTML fit together to make an easily-changed weblog/blogsite. To that end I’ve read consistently about the changes, updates and plans for Movable Type.

I’m not close to being able to provide Movable Type support services to others. I’m not a designer, developer or ”power” user. However, I want to learn. I want to understand what changes to a CSS stylesheet causes the end site to look like. I want to understand what the XHTML in the templates is really doing to produce the end site.

Now, what do I do? Do I download and start learning and using the Developer Edition? Do I wait for the User Edition (UE)? Where is Movable Type Pro in all of this?

Movable Type/Six Apart may be introducing confusion into the marketplace they have largely built. With alternatives aplenty, it behooves them to get more specific and detailed with their announcements. What is the schedule for a User Edition? What are the differences between it and the DE version? What are the prices/donation issues?

There’s a new TopStyle Tips weblog.